Okra and Red Bellpepper Stir fry

A simple stir fry to go with lunch, that is what this is. I like the green and red color combination too. This recipe is so easy to put together and its tasty with full of goodness!

Ingredients:
Okra - round 2 cups , chopped as shown in the pictures below
Red bell pepper - 1 big
Onion -  3-4 tablespoons, fine chopped
Turmeric powder -1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (or adjust according to taste)
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste

Heat oil in a pan, and add the onions, fry them until translucent. Add in all the powders and fry for another minute. Next, add chopped bell pepper and fry for a minute or two. Following that add all of the okra, along with salt. Cover and cook in medium heat for 5 minutes. You will see that the okra starts to become slimy. Mix thoroughly, cover and cook again for sometime, that is until the slimy texture goes away. Increase the heat a tad, and keep stirring. You will see the mixture starts to get dry. If you are really good with stirring, do it at high heat. But chances of your stir fry getting burnt is high, so I recommend stirring at medium high heat, paying attention. Once its gets to your desired dryness (around 10-12 minutes), switch of the heat and you are good to go.

Serve hot with rice, or quinoa. It is so good!

Cheers,
Anjana

A Very Healthy Avocado-Cucumber-Tomato Salad

Happy Earth Day, folks!
I celebrated earth day with this healthy vegetarian salad. Simple and tasty, that's what this salad is.

Ingredients:

Avocado - 1 No
Tomatoes - 2 No
Cucumber - 1/2 No (I used an English cucumber)
Onion - 1/4  of a small one or  just to flavor
Cranberries -  a small handful
Cilantro - 4-5 sprigs (If you like it a lot, add more)
Lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoons
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon

This is good enough for 2 people, when served with other main course. The ingredients might sound like a guacamole recipe, but trust me, this is different!

Slice the tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. Scoop out the avocado into it as small chunks and add cranberries and chopped cilantro. Combine well the dressing ingredients lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the dressing and toss well. If you don't have the patience to mix all the dressing ingredients together, it is ok to dump all the dressing ingredients into the chopped mixture! Who cares! Make sure you toss them well.

And, the colorful salad is ready to serve !! It's sweet, sour, salty, a little spicy and healthy!

Cheers,
Anjana

Easy (Spicy) Chicken Curry

This is probably the simplest chicken curry you can ever make. When you don't have a lot of ideas, but still need a go to recipe of spicy chicken curry, this is it.

Chicken (I used boneless) - 1/2 kg
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 teaspoon

Marinate the chicken pieces and keep it aside for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer the better.

Onion - 1/2 of a big one
Ginger and garlic crushed - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Coriander powder - 3 tablespoons
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons
mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Water - 3/4 cup
Curry leaves - as much as you need (and this is optional)

Heat a heavy bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, let them splutter and add the ginger garlic, fry until they start to change the color, then mix in the onions. Fry the onions until golden brown. As soon as they start turning brown, add all the powders and fry until raw smell goes away, the mixture should look nice dark brown, but not burnt. Now, it is time to add the marinated chicken pieces and add 3/4  cup of water and mix well. Now, remember there is salt in the marinade, so add according to your taste. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. If you find there is more gravy, keep the heat on until gravy thickens. That is it! I like to add curry leaves at this point and cover it until I am ready to eat.

This curry is similar to what my grand mom used to cook, but only difference is she adds coconut milk after gravy thickens. This gives a thinner gravy curry and less spicy, but with a unique taste!!! I decide to keep things simple here and avoided the coconut milk.

Serve hot with rice, chappathi/naan/parathas or appam or idiyappams!

Enjoy,
Anjana

Banana Bread French Toast with Greek Yogurt Topping

The name looks so fancy, doesn't it? This is a decadent breakfast with banana bread, in my opinion (and more healthier!!).
I had no idea, there was such a thing called banana bread french toast, until my dear husband came home from a conference and was raving about a French toast he ate at some restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas. I am an all time fan of banana bread and French toast. And, there is a recipe that these two come together? I am all in.  I tweaked the regular banana bread recipe to make it a little bit healthier, by using spelt flour.  So here is my version of recipe and it makes one 8 inch loaf.

Ingredients for banana bread:
Coconut oil - 1/4 cup (any oil would work)
Buttermilk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Banana - 3/4 cup (2 medium bananas)
Egg - 1 no

Spelt flour - 1 and 1/4 + 1/3 cup (regular flour works very well too, substitution is the same amount)
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Nuts or seeds - 1/2 cup (walnuts or sunflower seeds are some options)

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit or 175 degree Celsius. Start with wet ingredients. After mixing all the wet ingredients well, add in all the dry ingredients except the nuts. Make a smooth batter. Fold in the nuts or seeds (avoid them if you don't like to bite nuts in your bread). Bake in a loaf pan for 40-50 minutes. Start checking at 30 minutes.

Now, for the French toast..

Egg - 1
Milk - 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Whisk together egg and milk, then add sugar and cinnamon. This mixture is good enough for 5 - 6 slices of bread. Heat a pan on medium and fry the bread dipped in this mixture each side for couple minutes or until slightly brown. And you are good to go!

For Glaze/topping 
Low fat Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - a splash

Beat well all the ingredients by hand. Top your French toast with glaze, then it's time to serve with sliced banana and drizzled with some maple syrup. This is so good!!!

Cheers,
Anjana

Stir Fry with Turnips

Turnips are nice looking bulbs, but I never used them before. I am not a big fan of turnip greens either. So I used to wonder what would I do with turnips, if I get them. Then one fine day, I got this idea of making stir fry with turnips. So here I am, trying to cook south Indian style with turnips!

This is a super simple recipe. Turnips have a mild flavor on its own, and I tried to dress it up little bit with garlic along with a little turmeric powder.

Recipe source : myself

Ingredients:
Turnips -  cubed (8-10 nos)
Garlic - 1 clove. chopped fine
Onion - 1 tablespoon, chopped fine
Turmeric powder - couple generous pinch
Cayenne pepper powder or red hot chilli powder (from Indian store) - 1/4 teaspoon (totally avoid it, if don't like it)
Parsley - small handful.
Salt -  to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon (I tried to use minimum)

Cut up the turnips into small cubes. Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped garlic and onion. Fry on medium heat and add turmeric and cayenne pepper. Put the turnip cubes in to the pan and add salt. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes. Then open cook with stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley (it is very good for you!) and mix well, switching off the heat. Adjust the salt if needed.

This taste slightly similar to Chinese potato or koorkka. But not starchy, however, more fibrous, I guess.

Enjoy,
Anjana